Property insurance insights have traditionally relied on publicly available data. Common sources include deed records, weather data, MLS information, aerial imagery, and permit history, which have long formed the backbone of underwriting, pricing, and claims decisions.
However, this data often fails to account for the interior conditions of the property, where a significant share of risk could reside.
What’s behind the walls, under the roof, and beneath the floors can tell a very different story than what’s visible from a drone or in public records. Knowing about hazardous electrical panels, cracked foundations, water intrusion, or outdated systems adds layers of insight that square footage or exterior imagery alone cannot provide. For years, insurers have been making decisions without access to this level of interior detail.
That is beginning to change. Advances in property intelligence are now providing insurers with new visibility inside the home. This shift is transforming how underwriting, pricing, claims, and reinsurance are approached—and carriers are recognizing the potential for profitable growth as a result.
Risk Visibility Is Moving Indoors
As property intelligence matures, carriers are gaining something they’ve never really had before: scalable access to interior condition signals that directly tie to loss exposure.
This kind of intelligence comes from inspection ecosystems, project histories, and other real-world signals inside the home. It provides peril-relevant insights at scale and replaces guesswork with a clearer view of actual risk.
One example of this approach is Home Factors, a property intelligence platform developed by PGM Solutions to assess and quantify a home’s interior condition. Home Factors are data-driven indicators that identify risks and conditions that traditional data sources often overlook such as evidence of foundation repair, the location of a water heater, or the capacity of an electrical panel.
Currently, nearly 100 Home Factors are derived from diverse sources, including home inspection results, property updates, mortgage and title records, and home project data. This data aggregation creates a detailed view of interior conditions across more than 90 percent of U.S. homes.
Unlike photos or self-reported inspection data, which can be limited in quality and scope, Home Factors give carriers a reliable way to evaluate interior risk without requiring an in-person visit for every policy. Instead, a carrier can avoid inspections or decide to focus an inspection on a specific issue. This improves consistency, reduces unnecessary costs, and provides underwriters with early indicators of loss potential that support faster, more accurate underwriting and pricing decisions.
Changing the Economics of Insurance
This deeper visibility isn’t just about making underwriting smarter. It changes how insurers operate, improving processing speed and driving up agent and customer satisfaction.
Pricing becomes more precise because rates can reflect the actual condition of the property, in a surcharge or a discount. Reinsurance discussions become easier as well, since better risk selection often leads to lower PML and more favorable terms.
Carriers that close this visibility gap often see results quickly. They improve their loss ratios, lower inspection costs, and strengthen their overall operational footing. It’s a meaningful change in how the business functions, not just a minor adjustment, similar to the introduction of the credit score.
Why Now
Several factors are driving this shift in how carriers assess property risk.
First, the data is now available at scale. Inspection platforms, home service networks, and property intelligence systems cover a large portion of U.S. homes, making interior visibility a practical reality rather than a future goal.
Second, market conditions are adding pressure. Rising catastrophe losses, inflation, and higher reinsurance costs are pushing carriers to focus on profit, not just growth.
And third, regulators in many states are open to transparent, peril-linked data that is tied to property condition. Property condition is ultimately a better indicator of the true risk of the property compared to more commonly available data that indirectly and imperfectly tries to assign risk.
Data products like Home Factors align with this shift because they are built from verified property data and observations, delivering condition-based insights that are compliant, privacy-safe, and impactful.
A Shifting Advantage
For years, the property insurance industry has relied on credit score and continues to refine its view of what can be seen from the outside of the home. But the next phase of competitive advantage will lie inside the home – in the wiring, the plumbing, the foundation, and hundreds of similar features that have a direct connection to loss potential.
Carriers that move early will be better positioned to build smarter pricing strategies, streamline their underwriting operations, and improve their reinsurance stack. They will drive profitable growth. Those that wait will risk continuing to rely on incomplete data and naturally absorb more losses.
The blind spot is becoming harder to ignore. The question is not who, but how quickly the players will choose to look inside.
Michelle Taves is vice president and group general manager for data and marketing at Home Factors by PGM.
Topics Homeowners
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